Cabot’s Tragopan

     The Cabot’s Tragopan, also known as the Chinese Tragopan or the Yellow-Bellied Tragopan, is a bird from a Pheasant family known as the Tragopans or the Horny Pheasants. Its common name commemorates the ornithologist Samuel Cabot III.

     The male Cabot’s Tragopan is unmistakable, being by far the palest of all Tragopans. He is also the only one with a straw-buff colored breast and underparts. The male The male Cabot’s Tragopan’s upper body is mostly a rich reddish-brown, heavily spotted with buff. And the head is black except for orange-red patches on the crest and sides of the neck. He has conspicuous bare orange facial skin and like other male Tragopans, he has a brilliant blue and red inflatable lappet hanging from the throat and two fleshy blue ‘horns’ above the eyes, which become expanded and erect during courtship display. The female Cabot’s Tragopan is less-colorful with her greyish-brown underparts which are marked with white. While, the head and upper parts are reddish-brown spotted with black and marked with triangular-shaped white patches.

     The breeding season of he Cabot’s Tragopan is from early March to May. Usually a clutch of 2 to 6 eggs is laid and incubated by the female for around 28 days. The Cabot’s Tragopan has two subspecies, both inhabit south-east China.